[Title] Joint Ministerial Statement of the Third EAS Energy Minister Meeting

1. The Third EAS Energy Ministers Meeting was held on 29 July 2009 in Mandalay, Myanmar. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Brig. Gen. Lun Thi, Minister for Energy of Myanmar, and co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Takayuki Ueda, Director-General for Energy and Environment Policy, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan.

2. The Ministers exchanged views on the impact of the global financial and economic crisis and excessive energy price volatility in the EAS region, and called for enhanced dialogue and cooperation between energy producers and consumers, building upon the progress made in the 3rd Asian Ministerial Energy Round table held on 26 April, 2009 in Tokyo.

3. The Ministers stressed the importance of international cooperation under the EAS process to ensure greater security and sustainability of energy for sustainable economic growth. To this end, the Ministers reiterated their strong commitment to intensify on-going efforts and cooperation in order to improve energy efficiency, to increase the use of cleaner energy, including renewable and alternative sources of energy such as bio-fuels, and to promote energy market integration in the region.

4. The Ministers confirmed the need to secure continuous investment throughout the energy value chain to meet the growing future demand in the region.

5. The Ministers reaffirmed that well functioning energy market is the key to ensure stable energy supply. To this end, they encouraged efforts for the enhancement of the Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI) and supported efforts by relevant authorities to improve transparency of commodity market and

supervision on over-the counter market and called for further harmonized actions. The Ministers highlighted the necessity of enhancing the transparency of information exchange in commodity market through regular dialogue mechanism. They also reiterated the desire of phased and gradual withdrawal of price subsidies for conventional energy and commended some countries for their moves in this direction and welcomed further progress in this area.

6. The Ministers commended the EAS Energy Cooperation Task Force (ECTF) for the good work in intensifying cooperation under the three identified work streams, namely Energy Efficiency and Conservation, Biofuels for Transport and Other Purposes and Energy Market Integration.

7. The Ministers welcomed the voluntary energy efficiency goals and action plans submitted by most of EAS countries. The Ministers acknowledged that this notable achievement illustrates the intention of the EAS participating countries in dealing with energy security and climate change issues. Building upon this, the EAS participating countries are determined to further their efforts to promote energy efficiency, and follow up of each country’s progress towards its energy efficiency goals, on a voluntary basis. Toward this end, the Ministers affirmed that quantitative analysis and measures, focusing on energy intensive sectors, including power generation, industry, transportation, building and appliances, would be effective

to achieve each country’s goals. They reaffirmed that sectoral approach would be helpful to identify improvement potential and best available technologies, and accelerate regional cooperation, taking into account their national and sector specific circumstances. The Ministers welcomed the proposal to hold a workshop with the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) to deepen understanding each other’s energy efficiency goals and action plans and to learn them. The Ministers also encouraged international financial institutions to provide support for investment for energy efficiency and to develop effective tools for facilitating investments.

8. The Ministers appreciated the series of studies on EAS Energy Outlook reflecting each country’s energy efficiency goals conducted by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) and noted the policy recommendations submitted by ERIA. The Ministers encouraged ERIA to deepen its demand projection focusing on energy intensive sectors, to provide effective policy recommendations based on each sector’s characteristics, and to identify barriers to dissemination of best available technologies. The Ministers welcomed ERIA’s contribution to strengthen regional cooperation and human network through its research activities and encouraged it to continue its research work and provision of valuable inputs in their policy consideration.

9. The Ministers welcomed the database of on-going policies and measures for energy efficiency improvement operated by Asia Energy Efficiency and Conservation Collaboration Center (AEEC). The Ministers recognized the importance of sharing updated policies using the database and encouraged interested countries to contribute to this undertaking.

10. The Ministers shared the recognition that capacity building, in particular training of personnel related to energy management, is important for advancing energy efficiency in the industrial and commercial sectors, and as such, energy management system for training energy managers could constitute an important part of countries' action plans.

11. The Ministers reaffirmed their strong interests in biofuels while ensuring sustainability of supply and compatibility with environment, protecting natural diversity and minimising impact on food security. They appreciated the progress made in the establishment of a biofuels database in East Asia as well as in the development of the ERIA Biodiesel Fuel Trade Handbook for standardisation, sustainable supply, and wide deployment of biofuels in the EAS region. They also welcomed the Guidelines to assess sustainability of biomass utilisation in East Asia. The Ministers encouraged further efforts by the Biofuels Work Stream, including all its components.

12. The Ministers welcomed the development of the database for R&D activities by the Asia Biomass Energy Cooperation Promoting Office and encouraged continuous information sharing, and Researchers EAS region.

13. Noting the importance of promoting an Energy Market Integration (EMI) in the EAS region, the Ministers reaffirmed that the facilitation of energy trade linkages should be advanced as a priority, together with the integration of regional energy markets. The Ministers noted that integration is a long-term goal. To increase the responsiveness of the energy market to the changing energy supply and demand conditions, it is important to remove impediments that prevent the efficient function of the market while taking into account national economic circumstances. This will include encouraging trade and investment liberalisation and the reduction or removal of barriers that could impede the development of an open, competitive and more integrated regional energy market.

14. The Ministers appreciated the efforts of the ECTF to focus on continuous learning and information sharing on the benefits derived from more integrated and liberalised energy markets as part of Phase 2 of the EMI Work Plan. Given the varying states of energy markets in the region, EAS countries are encouraged to share and discuss initiatives to address market barriers and promote more transparent energy trade and investments.

15. The Ministers and their delegations appreciated the people and the Government of Myanmar for their warm hospitality and excellent arrangements made for the Meeting.

16. The Ministers agreed to meet again in Viet Nam in 2010 to further enhance the EAS energy cooperation in the three identified work streams.